Day 40 (3rd July) Beijing – David Jenny Travel

Just as last year, we could only get into Tiananmen Square by booking a permit a day in advance and I assumed that we could only get into the Forbidden City from the Square through the big gate with the huge paintings of Chairman Mao Ze Dong on either side. A policeman told us we could book a permit through booking.com. However there is another entrance up a road which runs alongside the Forbidden City and we had to navigate our way up it on a narrow pavement crowded with people. The entrance was nearly a mile from the huge three-lane road which runs from east to west through Beijing and the pavement had a seemingly endless row of tiny stalls along one side.
We went to the Forbidden City in 2012 and it was a delight. As with other places in China that we went to last year, the experience is now very different due to the enormous crowds. The authorities have tried to limit the crowds by introducing the pre-booking system, but I went to the ticket kiosk and was able to buy two tickets for about £3 each. In 2012 we could go into many of the palaces and see how the last emperor and the dowager empress lived, but no longer. Many of the palaces were under renovation and were covered in a protective screen. The nicest thing about the day was when a lady who saw we were getting wet gave us her umbrella; we tried to refuse it but she said she had another. We walked over 2 miles to the metro station to get home which was a struggle after already walking 5 miles to and around the Forbidden City in the sweltering heat and high humidity. So we ate at the hotel in the evening and had a very nice prawn and pineapple dish with assorted vegetables in a tasty sweet sauce.